Tag Archives: contractor

One cannot read “contractor” in Bayh-Dole and assume that “contractor” only refers to the initial or prime contractor. One must always look to the circumstances of a given contract to determine whether others have been made parties to the funding … Continue reading →

Now, let’s emphasize a few points. There are at least three ways that a contractor may come to own an invention made with federal support: inventors assign their inventions state law (in some cases, such as Ohio Rev Code 3345.14) … Continue reading →

Next, we add citations and qualifications to ground this framework. Specialty statutes for specific federal purposes control federal claims of ownership of inventions made under federal contract. See the list of such statutes at 35 USC 210. If a specialty statute … Continue reading →

First, the brief version: Specialty statutes for specific federal purposes control federal claims of ownership of inventions made under federal contract. The Nixon patent policy as amended by Reagan’s executive order otherwise controls federal claims of ownership of inventions made under … Continue reading →

We might ask, then, what happens if a contractor does not acquire ownership of an invention made in the performance of work under a federal funding agreement. The answer is that 15 USC 2218(d) remains in effect, and even though … Continue reading →

Consider, then, this (f)(2) written agreement requirement that’s outside Bayh-Dole but made a condition of federal funding agreements anyway. The (f)(2) requirement is most certainly not a private patent agreement between a university as employer and its faculty inventors. It … Continue reading →

Bayh-Dole applies only to inventions owned by a contractor Bayh-Dole applies only to subject inventions. Supreme Court: the Bayh-Dole Act . . . applies only to “subject inventions”—“inventions of the contractor” Subject inventions are patentable inventions made in work under … Continue reading →

Bayh-Dole supports the academic freedom of faculty inventors. University administrators refuse to comply. Here, we walk through the law, the implementing regulations, the various patent rights clauses to show the result. Fair warning to university administrators reading this piece. I … Continue reading →

Bayh-Dole defines anyone on the other side of a funding agreement from a federal agency as a contractor. The term is arbitrary and misleading. Let’s look at both aspects. The standard patent rights clause requires the contractors that host federally … Continue reading →